Too Early
by Sarah-Janny
Summary: Janny Fic. My first fanfic in a long time & my first holby fic, so please be nice! Story about Jac and Jonny, Jac is around 7 and a half months pregnant at this time, and although Jac and Jonny are not together, they are close. But when things start to go wrong, they realise how close they really are and quite how much they need each other. A bit of drama with some fluff :)
1. Chapter 1

It was a normal day on the ward. Jac, Jonny and Mo were there, just going about their day-to-day business. A heavily pregnant Jac walked, or more waddled, along the ward to the nurses station where Jonny was sitting.

"Shouldn't you be working?" Jac practically barked at Jonny.

"I'm on a break and besides, I've done everyones obs and everything that needs to be done." Jonny replied.

Jac rolled her eyes and walked round the desk, feeling a slight twinge in her stomach as she did so. She didn't want to make a fuss over it - it was probably just her baby kicking, but it felt different to how it usually did. She'd obviously had a reaction to this feeling as Jonny suddenly jumped up.

"Jac?!" Jonny said worriedly, immediatly by her side. "You okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine" Jac said irritably, "Nothing to worry about, it was probably just a kick"

"Are you sure? I mean it couldn't be a contraction or anything could it?" Jonny asked.

Jac sighed and rolled her eyes. "Are you a complete idiot? I'm only 7 and a half months pregnant, there's still 6 weeks before my due date!"

"Yeah, but you looked in pain just then!' Jonny protested

"If you had a baby in your stomach that mistakes your ribcage for a football you'd be in pain too!" Jac replied.

Jonny decided it would probably be best to leave the situation. He watched Jac walk away and noted how beautiful she looked with a baby bump. He thought she was beautiful anyway but she looked... well, extra beautiful. Things hadn't been easy over the last 7 and a half months - A death of a young colleague, Tara, had ultimately led to the conception of their baby, and although they wernt together, Jonny knew it was only a matter of time before they would get back together - the attraction was still there, both of them could see that. With only six weeks to go before Jac's due date, Jonny was getting increasingly excited about meeting his offspring, and so was Jac - although she wouldn't dare to admit it. Jonny sighed, and got back to his work, because he knew Jac would kill him if she caught him doing no work again.

He needn't have worried though, for Jac was in her office, she too thinking about their baby. She was excited, but very, very nervous at the same time. She didn't really know how she was going to cope as a mum, it worried her that she wouldn't love her child, like her own mother hadn't loved her. Despite being reassured by numerous people, there was still that worry at the back of her mind. She was just thankful that Jonny was around, as she sure as hell wouldn't have been able to go through the last 7 and a half months without him. He'd been there for her when Tara died, he'd helped Jac through the guilt she'd felt for always giving Tara a hard time, and then of course he'd been there throughout the pregnancy. He'd been there when she'd had her mood swings, he'd bought her doughnuts to fuel her cravings, he'd been there at the scans, he'd even let her in at 3 in the morning some nights, like when she first felt the baby kick. She needed him, Jac wouldn't admit it, but she really did. She couldn't do this without him.

Jac snapped back to reality - she was hungry. She dragged herself up from her seat, her baby seeming slowing her down with everything. She got in the lift and headed down to the canteen. She recalled the first 3 months of her pregnancy, where noone knew, so she had to be discreet with her excessive doughnut eating, but now that most of the hospital knew, she didn't have to worry so much. She picked up some doughnuts and headed over to the lift, where there was a large crowd of people - the lift had broken down. "Seriously?!" Jac complained loudly, causing a few heads to turn. She sighed, and headed towards the stairwell. She began to climb the stairs, and that's when the pain started. She ignored it as she climbed up the stairs, but every few minutes the pain would come back. Labour didn't cross her mind - it was far to early, surely? But as she climbed up the stairs, nearing the doors that lead onto Keller ward, she felt a warm liquid fall to the ground.

She was wrong. It wasn't too early for labour.

Her waters had broken.


	2. Chapter 2

"Shit!" Cried out Jac, as she sat down on the stairs. This couldn't be happening. Not now, it was far too early. She clutched her bump, willing the pain to go away and her baby to stay in there, safe from the world. But that wasn't going to happen, and the thought of delivering very soon became real.

She was in a stairwell though. She was alone in the stairwell, and she didn't know how long it would be before anyone walked up or down it. She could see the doors to Keller - she could try walking to it, but the contractions were getting stronger. It was possible though, so she slowly eased herself up off the steps, another contraction washing over her as she did so. She knew she needed to get help though - She was scared, this baby was premature, and she wasn't giving birth alone in a stairwell. She walked over to the doors of Keller and went straight through them. She started walking towards the nursing station, where Chantelle was sitting. "This is all I need" Jac thought, walking over to the Nurses Station.

"Miss Naylor?" Chantelle stood up, a worried look on her face.

"Nurse Lane, Chantelle, please help m.." She couldn't finish her sentence as another contraction washed over her, causing her to double over in pain. "My baby!"

"Oh, no" Chantelle said, jumping up and running round the Nurse's Station. She put an arm round Jac, helping her stand as she was clearly in a lot of pain. "Let's get you down to maternity," She said, guiding Jac over to a wheelchair.

"No, no, I can walk!" Jac protested. Chantelle looked at her and smiled. "You can barely stand, let alone walk. Get in, it'll probably be better for you and the baby.

Jac gave in and got in the chair. the contractions were getting stronger and time was running out. Chantelle started wheeling her towards the lift. "Wait!" Jac cried, "What about Jonny?"

"We'll let Jonny know what's going on, I promise, but our main priority is getting you to Maternity," Chantelle said, trying to keep calm.

"I can't do this without him" Jac cried. She was crying now, she was so scared and she didn't want to give birth without Jonny, "Please get him to come as soon as he can"

"Okay, okay," Chantelle said, slightly daunted by the usually icy woman breaking down in the chair. She spotted Arthur walking down the corridor the other way. "Arthur!" She said, practically running over to him, "Can you please go up to Darwin and let Nurse Maconie know that he needs to get down to Maternity because Miss Naylor's about to give birth."

"What about the ward?" Arthur asked, "Who's watching it?"

"Oh, yeah..." Chantelle said. "Don't worry, I'll find someone else to do it."

"Well i can do it if you want me to, I don't mind doing it it's just we run the risk of not only getting in trouble with the hospital for leaving a ward unattended, but having patients need assistance and there not being any available. Of course, If you want..." Arthur went off on one.

"Ok, okay, Einstein, I'm not sure if you've noticed but I am currently having a baby, I don't care who asks Jonny but I NEED HIM AT THE BIRTH" Jac interrupted.

"I'll get someone else to do it," Chantelle said, pressing the button for the lift. As she got in, Mo was standing there, in the lift.

"Jac? You alright?" Mo said, looking down at the distressed-looking redhead.

"Well apart from my waters breaking all over the stairwell and the fact I'm about to give birth to my baby 6 weeks early, I'm doing just f..ARGH" Jac said, as she had another contraction, "I can't do this!"

Mo looked at Chantelle worriedly. "Miss Effanga, can you please get Jonny from Darwin? Miss Naylor was refusing to start giving birth without him" Chantelle said.

"Yeah sure," Mo said, as Chantelle wheeled out Jac onto the maternity ward. Mo waited for the lift to go up to Darwin, and practically jumped out of it when it got there. She got to the ward and realised Jonny was with a patient. Mo waited for Jonny to finish with them - he was only doing obs but they needed to be done.

Jonny finished doing Mr. Smith's obs, and as he did so, Mo came rushing over. "Ok, Jonny Mac, don't freak out by what I'm about to tell you," Mo said, guiding him away from the patient.

"You're not pregnant again are you?" Jonny asked.

"No, silly. Jac's erm... well, she's... Ok she's gone into labour and you need to get down to maternity right now" Mo said. To her surprise, Jonny started laughing.

"You must be joking Mo, she's not due for another 6 weeks! Did she text you this?" Jonny said.

"I wish I was joking, but no, I'm not. Jac's with Chantelle, in a wheelchair on her way to maternity. I saw her in the lift. You need to get down there Jonny" Mo said.

"Oh no," Jonny said, realising Mo was right. "I need to be there," he said, puting the files on the Nurse's Station and running.

"Good Luck!" Mo shouted after him.


	3. Chapter 3

Chantelle wheeled Jac into the Maternity waiting room, straight over to the desk. To Jac's dismay, the last person she wanted to see was manning the desk - Jean Rimini, Head of Maternity. "Oh my god, is this a joke?!" Jac exclaimed, much to Jean's amusement.

"Well, good to see you're your usual self then," Jean said, "Now what can I do for you?"

"Well, Ms Rimini, Miss Naylor's gone into labour prematurely, how many weeks did you say, Jac?" Chantelle said, looking over to Jac who was battling with another contraction.

"Six weeks now if you don't mind, I need to... need to get a bed." Jac said. She looked around and suddenly looked very scared. "Where's Jonny?"

"Mo went to get him, I'm sure he won't be long," Chantelle said.

"No I need him now I am not having this baby without him!" Jac cried, becoming increasingly distressed.

"Okay, okay, I'm sure he'll be here soon." Chantelle said, as Jean showed them into a room.

"I'll be back soon, make yourself comfortable," Jean smiled sweetly and left.

Jac looked at the woman, exasperated. "Are you mad?" She cried, "It might have slipped your...ARGH... Your notice, that I'm giving birth to this baby NOW, and this baby is PREMATURE,"

"I'm getting a team of midwifes together if you must know," Jean replied, leaving swiftly.

Jac hadn't realised how scared she was until now. Chantelle sat beside her.

"Don't leave me Chantelle" Jac cried. Chantelle didn't know how to take this, as she wasn't used to Jac Naylor being... well, vulnerable? nice?

"I'm staying here Miss Naylor, at least until Nurse Maconie comes," Chantelle said.

Jonny ran down the maternity ward as fast as he could. He got to the desk, but ran straight through, where Jean was standing with a group of midwifes.

"Where is she?" Jonny asked. Jean nodded to a room, and Jonny ran straight in.

"Jac?" He said, running into the room.

"Jonny!" Jac said, bursting into tears. Jonny knelt down next to her and put his arms round her, where she buried her head in his chest.

"It's okay, I'm here," Jonny said, stroking her hair. He looked over to Chantelle and nodded - she was free to go. "Thank you," He mouthed at her, as Chantelle got up to leave.

"Good luck, Miss Naylor," Chantelle said, leaving the room. As she left, another contraction hit Jac, and she screamed in pain.

"Gas and air, Jac, gas and air," Jonny said, handing the gas and air over to her. Jac was taking gas and air when Jean and her team came in. The contractions were very strong now, Jac knew any minute now she was going to have to push.

"Miss Naylor, I'll have to examine you," Jean said. Jac reluctantly let her do so, dreading the response.

"Ah, it seems you're 10 centimetres. Are you ready to push?" Jean asked.

Jonny sat where Chantelle was sitting, and held Jac's hand. He felt like his hand was going to be broken, as Jac clutched it as hard as it seemed possible to.

"And 3,2,1, Push!" Jean said. Jac pushed as hard as she could. She pushed a fair few times, but she started to get tired.

"Jonny I can't do this!" Jac cried, as Jean asked for one last push.

"Yes you can," Jonny said, "You are the strongest woman I know, you can do this,"

"But I'm scared Jonny, why can't our baby just stay in here, where they're safe?" Jac sobbed, the pain becoming excruciating.

With the help and encouragement from Jonny, Jac gave it one last push, and their baby entered the world. There was a small cry that the infant let out, but it became clear it wasn't well.

"You have a little girl, congratulations!" Jean said, trying to keep the couple positive while the team crowded round the newborn, putting her into an incubator. Although she was breathing, she was struggling to breathe and was quite weak and poorly. They wheeled the baby out, over to the intensive care unit.

"No, wait, please! Let me see her, please, please just let me see her!" Jac sobbed as they took her baby away. She felt an arm around her, Jonny.

"You did it Jac, it's okay, you did it," Jonny said, tears forming in his eyes, "I am so, so proud of you."

"But she's not well Jonny. We've got a little daughter but we can't see her, she's not well!" Jac sobbed. She blamed herself for the baby being premature, even though she had no sign that her baby was going to be born so early.

"She's in the best place, Jac, they'll look after her. They'll do everything they can to make her better." Jonny said."Now come on, you need to rest."

Jonny climbed next to her on the bed, and wrapped his arms around her. A devastated Jac buried her head in his chest. She was scared - She was a mum, but she felt powerless. She just wanted to help her baby, but she hadn't even met her yet.


	4. Chapter 4

Jonny looked around the room, unsure of what to do with himself. He guessed there wasn't much he could do, apart from wait.

It had been a couple of hours since Jac and Jonny's tiny daughter had been born, and although they'd been told she was stable for now, they hadn't heard much else. Jonny was looking after Jac as best he could. She was in a bad way, and sick with worry. She blamed herself for their baby being born too soon, despite Jonny telling her numerous times that it was in no way her fault, noone could have predicted the baby being born when she was.

Jonny looked down at the redhead sleeping with her head on his chest. Part of him was thankful she'd gone to sleep - she was exhausted after giving birth, and he'd like to have thought that whilst she was asleep her mind was not worrying - it was resting.

Jonny was still worried though. They hadn't heard any news whatsoever on their daughter, who was down in ICU, probably attached to a million machines. He hadn't expected to become a dad this early - it was too early. She had been born too early. What hurt the most is that Jonny had become a dad, yet he wasn't able to see or hold his baby girl. It wasn't fair.

Jac stirred slightly, and Jonny looked over to her. She was waking up. Jonny kept his arm tightly round her, as she was bound to be a bit confused when she woke up. Jac opened her eyes. At first she looked around the room - why was she here? And then she remembered.

"Where is she?!" Jac said, panicky, "Where's our daughter Jonny? I need to see her!" she started to freak out a bit and Jonny knew it was up to him to keep her calm.

"She's in ICU, Jac. She was born early, she's not very well." Jonny said, with his arms protectively round Jac.

"I want to see her!" Jac cried. This shouldn't be happening now - she should have her baby in her arms; not even that - her baby was early, she should still be tucked up safe in Jac's womb.

"They'll come back, Jac, they'll give us news." Jonny said, knowing this wouldn't be the most reassuring thing to say, as it could be good or bad news, but at least there was a 50/50 chance of good news.

A few moments later a doctor from ICU came in, with news on their daughter. Jac sat up attentedly, trying to read the doctor's face, to tell if it was good news or bad news.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Kawathe, I have some news on your baby daughter." He said.

"How is she? Is she OK?" Jac asked, the panic evident in her voice.

"She's still very fragile, but she's doing well and she's in the best place for her. Our only concern right now is that she's not breathing properly on her own yet," Dr Kawathe said, "Would you like to see her?"

"Oh so you mean to say apart from breathing, the one thing you have to do to stay alive, she's doing just fine?" Jac said, semi-sarcastically.

"Jac, please, you're not helping," Jonny said, putting his arm around her.

"Well it's common in babies born this early that this happens, but very often with the help of the ventilator they can eventually start breathing on their own" Dr Kawathe said.

"Ok. Sorry. Can we see her?" Jac asked.

"Of Course - let me just fetch you a chair," Dr Kawathe said, leaving the room quickly. Jac looked at Jonny and Jonny looked back.

"It'll be fine," Jonny said.

"Mmm." Jac said, seemingly unconvinced.

Dr Kawathe returned with a wheelchair. Jac climbed into it, and Jonny pushed her along.

The journey to ICU felt like an eternity, but Jonny managed to speak to Dr Kawathe a bit on the way. Dr Kawathe said he'd seen cases like this before, and if he was honest, cases have gone both ways, but, as always, he was hoping for the best possible outcome. Eventually they arrived - Jac had chosen to zone out of Jonny and the Doctor's conversation - She just wanted to see her daughter.

The doors to ICU opened. Jonny hesitated outside of them. "You ready, Jac?" he asked, looking at the redhead in the chair. She shut her eyes and nodded - she was scared at how fragile her baby could look, but she needed and wanted to see her. Jonny went through the doors, following Dr Kawathe over to a bed. Jonny parked Jac next to her, and they saw their daughter for the first time.

"She's tiny." Jac whispered, "She's so tiny."

"She's beautiful," Jonny said, "Beautiful like her mum,"

Dr Kawathe told them that they could touch her, and then left them to it. Jac and Jonny were fixated by her. Their beautiful baby daughter, who looked like them both. She was so tiny, so fragile, but at the same time.. so perfect. Jonny tried to keep their spirits up - it was hard to do that when their baby was lying in an incubator with so many tubes coming out of her, but he tried.

"She's got your hair Jac," Jonny said, pointing at the baby's ginger hair. she didn't have a lot of hair but it was the same striking colour as Jac's.

"She's got your nose," Jac said.

They spent a while analyzing their daughter - what features from what parent she had inherited them from. Jonny left to get them both a coffee. When he was out the room, Jac turned to her daughter.

"Hey little one," Jac began, "You probably can't hear me. But I need to say this to you." She drew a deep breath. "I didn't realise it would be like this. You were too early. But that doesn't matter now, what matters is that you get better. You see, I always act like a cold hearted cow. Most of the time I am. But with you it's different. Right from when I found out I was pregnant I knew I wanted you. I made out to everyone that I didn't care, but I did. I cared so much and I care now. I love you so much so please pull through, little baby, please." She realised at this point she was crying, so she wiped away a tear, "I'm not going to do to you what my mum did to me, so please be okay."

Jac put her hand in the little hole in the incubator. She put a finger near her daughters hand, hoping she'd grab hold of it. She sat there for a short while when suddenly she felt her daughter gripping onto her finger. She started to cry again, and at the moment Jonny walked in. "Look, Jonny!" She said, "She's got my finger!" Jonny smiled at this, and put his arm round Jac. They sat like this for a short while, Jac was so happy that their daughter was being quite responsive, and just hoped that this was a sign. She needed her daughter to get through this - she didn't know what she'd do if she didn't.


End file.
